Jodhpur: Home Ministry official among 4 arrested by Rajasthan ACB for extorting Pak migrants
Pankaj Kumar Mishra is a Senior Secretariat Assistant (SSA) with the ministry of home affairs. The ACB also took into custody his three aides Ashok, Bhagwana Ram and Govind.
Last Updated:
ACB
Jaipur: Rajasthan anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Friday arrested an office of the home ministry, Pankaj Kumar Mishra and took into custody three middlemen in connection with extorting money from Pak Hindu migrants in the name of visa extension, visa transfer and citizenship. Pankaj Kumar (PK) Mishra is a Senior Secretariat Assistant (SSA) with the ministry of home affairs. The ACB also took into custody his three aides Ashok, Bhagwana Ram and Govind. They are Pak migrants themselves. Mishra was arrested when these three middlemen were handing over bribe money to them in a hotel in Jodhpur.
According to the ACB officials, Mishra was staying at Kasturi Orchid Hotel on Pal Bypass in Jodhpur on Friday.
“The Rajasthan high court is hearing a petition related to Pak Hindu migrants. Mishra used to come to Jodhpur from Delhi to assist the lawyers with presenting the government’s side in the case. He had come to Jodhpur on Thursday for a hearing that was to take place on Friday,” said an ACB officer.
The intelligence wing of the ACB in Jaipur got a tip-off about the nexus of some people in Jodhpur with Mishra. They laid a trap. Mishra was arrested from the hotel while taking the money that the middlemen collected from Pak migrants.
It came up during preliminary investigation that the gang not only has nexus in Jodhpur, but also in Jaipur. The name of a Rajasthan home department employee Kundan Lal has also been included in the FIR. Sources said that the ACB will investigate the involvement of some CID-CB and home department officers.
Whenever Mishra came to Jaipur, Rajasthan CID-CB used to arrange for a car and hotel for him in Jodhpur. He stayed in CID office in Jodhpur on Thursday and prepared the ministry’s response to be made in the Rajasthan high court.
The ACB’s Intelligence Wing had him under surveillance. When the three middlemen reached the hotel around 9 pm on Thursday, the ACB took them into custody.
The three middlemen had migrated to India from Pakistan many years ago. They obtained the Indian citizenship and developed a nexus with Mishra. They would collect money from poor people looking to obtain citizenship or extend their visa in India. While Ashok and Govind worked as typists in a court, Bhagwan Das ran a garment shop. The ACB carried out searches at the garment shop and alleged seized passports and other documents belonging to nearly 200 migrants.
